ECUADOR', the Spanish term for equator, is the name of an independent state of South America, extending from lat. 1 40' n. to 5° 50' s.; and from long. 70° to 81° 20' west. It measures, therefore, from n. to s. fully 500 rn., and from e. to w. nearly 800, presenting an area of about 250,000 sq. miles. It is bounded on the n. by the United States of Colombia, on the e. by Brazil, on the s. by Peru, and on the w. by the Pacific ocean. Toward the e. it is drained by the Amazon, which receives all the rivers that fall down the eastern slopes of the Andes, while the country w. of the Andes is drained chiefly by the Mira, the Esmerelda, and the Guayaquil—the last named being more available for navigation than any other on the same coast of South America. The country is traversed nearly in the lane of a meridian, by the two ranges of the Andes, which, alternating between union and separation, sometimes run into what are called knots, and sometimes inclose, at great elevations, plateaus or table-lands. Among these last, ranging from s. to n., the most important are those of Cuenca. Hambato, and Quito—their respective heights above the sea being, in feet, 8,640, 8,860, and 9,543. Lofty as these plateaus or table-lands are, they are beset, nay almost shut out from the world, by pinnacles of occasionally more than equal altitude above their own level. Of these the most remarkable are Chimborazo and Cotopaxi (q.v.). In connection with these physical features, the country is subject to volcanoes and earthquakes—the latter frequently occurring, and the former numbering altogether no fewer than sixteen. The climate comprises every possible variety. Hyperborean cold marks the snow-capped mountains; a temperature at once moderate and uniform renders the upland plains so many paradises; while, on both sides of the dividing ridge, intense heat oppresses the lower valleys. The rainfall is different in different localities. In the basin of the
Guayaquil, there is regularly a wet season; between it and cape San Lorenzo, almost perpetual drought prevails; and, in the other direction, the upper tributaries of the Amazon are said to be fed by almost perpetual rains.
The population, according to the latest estimates, amounts to about 1,300,000, com prising 600,000 white descendents of Europeans, 650,000 Indians (200,000 Indian savages), 8,000 Africans, and 35,000 Mestizoes. The chief cities are Quito, the capital, and Guayaquil, a great commercial emporium; and the towns of the second class are Riobamba, Puno, Cuenca, and Loxa. The government appears to have been consti tuted on the model of the United States of IN orth America, having a president and vice president, with a senate and a house of representatives. The foreign trade of E. is carried on chiefly through the port of Guayaquil, the imports of which in 1873 amounted to .£950,000. In 1876, the value of the exports was £680,000. In the year 1874, there entered and cleared the port of Guayaquil 154 British and 221 other vessels, of a total tonnage of 331,683 tons. The principal exports are cocoa, the precious metals, timber, bark, hides, etc. The principal articles. of import, in order of value, are cottons—more than a fourth of the whole—woolens, wines, spirits, groceries, soap and candles, hardware, flour, etc. A few cart-roads have recently been made, and a railway was in 1877 being laid down between Puebla and Sibambe.